1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a driving circuit for a gaseous discharge display device, more particularly, to a driving circuit for a gaseous discharge display device wherein a scan operation occurs only when display data is input, while no scan operation occurs when display data is not input onto any one of available column lines.
2. Description of the Art
A gaseous discharge display device includes a matrix electrode. Each matrix electrode comprises a plurality of scan electrode rows and a plurality of signal electrode columns. Pixels are discharged when a voltage is supplied selectively to any crosspoint intersected by a scan electrode row and a signal electrode column.
Conventionally, a scan driving voltage is applied to the scan electrode rows even when display data is not applied to the signal electrode columns. A scan operation is therefore continuous.
For that reason, an auxiliary discharge is generated at a crosspoint intersected by a scan electrode row and a signal electrode column even when display data is not applied to a signal electrode column. Because a scan electrode row applies a scan driving voltage continuously, residual luminance exists when no display data is applied to any of the signal electrode columns.
In a conventional gaseous discharge display device, the driving circuit is therefore constructed such that scanning progresses sequentially up to the maximum number of scan lines corresponding to 1 frame regardless of the presence of data.
Accordingly, since scan lines are driven continuously even while no data is input, unnecessary power consumption becomes a problem. Furthermore, the residual luminance exists because auxiliary discharge is generated even in crosspoints where no data is applied. As a result, since both a main discharge and an auxiliary discharge are generated on the screen, depending on the presence of data, the signal contrast ratio is reduced considerably compared to the case in which only main discharge is generated.